One of the most important issues facing the South African democracy is that of breaking the grip of poverty on a substantial portion of its citizens. In South Africa, Non-Profit Organisations (NPOs) play a major role in the development of assistance for the poor and in reducing poverty. As an NPO, the Greater Midrand Development Centre (GMDC) has played an important role in supporting and encouraging the development aspirations of Region A of the City of Johannesburg community in the areas of Agricultural projects, bakery, poultry and paper making. The aim of the study was to determine the impact of the Development Centre Approach (DCA) on poverty alleviation in the Region A of the City of Johannesburg community and to make recommendations on policy priorities and challenges that will fast track developmental social service delivery within a Development Centre Approach. The study focused on the GMDC poverty alleviation projects in five selected areas. The study followed a qualitative research approach. Data was collected by means of one-on-one interviews and focus groups by means of semi-structured interview schedules. The participants of the focus groups involved both those beneficiaries who were still attending the GMDC poverty alleviation projects, and those who have exited the development centre poverty alleviation projects. The one-on-one interviews involved five project leaders, members of the board, staff members, and officials from the Department of Social Development. The findings indicated that the GMDC has played a crucial role in terms of poverty alleviation of the beneficiaries. From the study it was concluded that the poverty alleviation projects of the GMDC appear to be alleviating the poverty of the beneficiaries by addressing some of their basic needs to a certain extent by improving a livelihood, but nonetheless still not reducing their poverty levels. The study recommends the development of a clear exit strategy which is understood and supported by beneficiaries. The exit strategy should include factors and elements which will promote sustainability, such as business and entrepreneurial skills; knowledge on equipment; material; a marketing strategy; and a strategy or guidelines on networking, including donors and financing institutions. / Dissertation (MSW)--University of Pretoria, 2012. / Social Work and Criminology / unrestricted

In South Africa all the major categories of violent crime (homicide, aggravated robbery, serious assault and rape) showed an increase during the early 2000s. More than half of the total offences that were committed in South Africa during 2005 were aggressive offences. The goal of the study was to explore the perception of offenders regarding the triggering and contributing socio-economic factors to aggravated robbery with a view to inform rehabilitation and re-integration programmes for these offenders. Within the context of the interrelatedness of socio-economic factors such as poverty, inequality, unemployment and human rights, developmental social welfare and its underpinning theory of social development was an appropriate theoretical framework for the study. A qualitative research approach was utilised for the study and data was gathered by means of semi-structured interviews. Respondents for the study included maximum-term offenders that were serving an imprisonment sentence for aggravated robbery. The research findings indicate a reciprocal relationship between poverty, inequality, unemployment, intoxicating substances and intra- and interpersonal factors as possible triggering and contributing factors to aggravated robbery. Unemployment, which is exacerbated by a lack of education and skills development and linked to intra- and interpersonal factors, appears to be a dominant socio-economic factor that could contribute to or trigger aggravated robbery. The study concluded that rehabilitation programmes still lack a holistic, integrated developmental approach and hence do not prepare ex-offenders for full integration into society. The Department of Correctional Services was pointed out as a significant role-player in facilitating rehabilitation programmes that include skills development for job creation in a holistic, integrated developmental manner. Recommendations include that the Department of Correctional Services should seek partnerships and closer working relations with external service providers, and develop and implement integrated developmental rehabilitation programmes that will facilitate the creation of productive economic opportunities for offenders while they are still incarcerated and once they have been released back into the community. / Dissertation (MSW)--University of Pretoria, 2012. / Social Work and Criminology / unrestricted

The goal of this study was to analyse and describe the content of the National Drug Master Plan 2006-2011 (NDMP2) from a social development perspective. In order to achieve this goal, a quantitative research approach was adopted to determine objectively whether indicators of social development are encapsulated in the manifest content of the NDMP2. To this end a cross-sectional survey research design guided the study. A checklist, as a data collection instrument, was developed and utilised to collect data. The validity, that is face and content validity, and reliability (r = 0.98) of the checklist, was confirmed. From the raw data, descriptive statistics, specifically frequencies and percentages, were calculated. Three different genres of policy analysis were undertaken to answer the following research question: “Is the content of the NDMP2 in accordance with a social development perspective?” The key finding of the study was that, holistically interpreted, the NDMP2 is in accordance with a social development perspective because all ten the identified dimensions of a social development theoretical framework, i.e. capital development, innovation, integrated service delivery strategy, intervention by social service professionals, levels of service delivery, mandate, partnerships, principles, a rights-based approach and target groups, are captured in the content of the policy, albeit with different prominence. In addition, it was found that the NDMP2 has specific limitations due to the exclusion of several indicators of social development. It was concluded that the content of the NDMP2 has both strengths and limitations, when interpreted from a social development perspective. Amongst the strengths of the NDMP2 are the following: a multi-sectoral approach; bridging of the micro-macro divide; and provision for vulnerable groups, with the emphasis on the youth and children. The limitations of the NDMP2 are that its strategic framework fails to give equal weight to harm reduction strategies, alongside demand and supply reduction strategies; economic capital development is totally omitted; clear indicators for the monitoring and evaluating of policy are absent; treatment, as a level of service delivery, receives the most attention at the expense of prevention, early intervention and aftercare and reintegration services; a human-rights approach towards service delivery is not adequately emphasised; and, lastly, the NDMP2 does not make provision for gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people as a vulnerable group. To align future National Drug Master Plans (i.e. NDMP 2012-2016) with a social development approach, the recommendations are, amongst others, to ensure equal attention is given to demand, supply and harm reduction strategies; to include economic capital development in the service delivery framework; to illuminate clear indicators for policy evaluation purposes; to provide equal weight to all levels of service delivery; and to ensure a human-rights approach to service delivery is clearly delineated. Future research could compare the content of all the National Drug Master Plans in South Africa as valuable insights could be obtained about the development of such policies and the alignment of these plans with a social development approach. Copyright / Dissertation (MSW)--University of Pretoria, 2013. / Social Work and Criminology / unrestricted

South African welfare policies and social problems dictate social service rendering in South Africa. Social workers are involved in various service delivery interventions of which community development (macro focus) and statutory services (micro focus) are two separate specialised interventions. In social work practice there is a need for both interventions, however, there is no clear guidelines for social workers how to integrate these interventions in practice. The aim of this study was to determine how community development and statutory services as two distinctive social work interventions could be integrated in order to render effective, integrated social services within a developmental approach. A qualitative research approach was utilised for the study and data was gathered by means of four focus group interviews. Respondents for the study included social workers and clients who were involved in both statutory and community development interventions. Research findings indicated that statutory and community development interventions are guided by different processes, time frames, and models of implementation, such as the legislative framework in the case of statutory work as opposed to participatory models in community development. The study concluded that there is not only confusion with regard to the role of social workers, but also a high risk of clients loosing trust in the helping relationship when one social worker simultaneously does community work and render statutory services in the same community. The distinctive nature of statutory services and community development calls for other options for the integration of these two intervention levels. This study proposed three options for social workers and NGOs to integrate statutory services and community development. Based on the research findings and conclusions of the study, the researcher proposed guidelines for (1) the development of an integrated model and (2) a policy framework for the integration of statutory services and community development within a developmental approach and finally recommended that such a designed model and policy framework be implemented and the impact thereof on social service delivery be researched. / Dissertation (MSD (Social Development and Policy))--University of Pretoria, 2006. / Social Work / unrestricted

Syftet med studien är att bidra med kunskap om vad andraspråksperspektiv och inkluderande undervisning betyder i praktiken för ett antal lärare på låg- och mellanstadiet i Sverige. För att uppnå syftet har frågeställningar handlat om hur lärarna förstår vad ett andraspråksperspektiv är i praktiken, hur andraspråksperspektiv tillämpas i undervisningen samt vilka utmaningar finns det för lärarna att lyckas möta andraspråksperspektiv i egna klassrum. Eftersom undersökningen utgår från lärarnas perspektiv bygger undervisningen på en kvalitativ metod och intervjuer med fem grundskollärare. Resultatet analyserades genom tematisk analysmetod. Resultatanalysen identifierade fyra temaområde: faktorer som stimulerar samarbete mellan elever, flerspråkighet som resurs, lärarnas direkta stöttning samt förförståelse och begreppsinlärning. Resultatens slutsats visar att utmaningarna lärarna upplever handlar om vuxen stödverksamhet för lärare med studiehandledning, SvA-verksamhet och modersmål som visas inte är organiserad på ett sätt som kan garantera SvA-elevens optimala stöd. Dessutom handlar slutsatsen om utmaningarna på individnivå för samtliga lärare vilket är förmåga att ta tillvara på elevernas kulturella bakgrund och kunna integrera detta i egen undervisning samt integrera användning av digitala hjälpmedel som stöd för SvA-elever. / The aim of the study is to contribute with knowledge about what second language perspective and inclusive teaching means in practice for some number of Swedish low- and middle primary school teachers. In order to achieve this aim the specific questions have been designed such as: how teachers comprehend what second language perspective is in practice; how second language perspective is applied in a teaching context as well as what the challenges are for the teachers in order to succeed meet the requirements for the second language perspective in their own classrooms. As this study is investigating teachers' perspective the survey has been conducted with a qualitative method approach using interviews with five primary school teachers as the method of collecting data. Thematic analysis has been used for analysis of research data. The results extracted from the analyses are: factors that stimulate collaboration among pupils, multilingualism as a resource, teachers direct support and pupils pre-understanding and concept acquisition. Conclusions are: the teachers´ adult support system (with first language supervisor, SvA-teacher and mother tongue teacher) that is, according to the study results, not organized to offer pupils in Swedish as a second language an optimal support. Other challenges have been identified on the teachers level which are teachers' ability to include pupils´ in Swedish as a second language cultural experiences as well as teachers being able to integrate the use of educational computer tools fit to support these pupils.

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